Second Round Of MJHL Playoffs Begins Tonight



Four teams remain alive in their quest to capture the 2018 Turnbull Cup. 

Tonight marks the start of both semi final series', with the Steinbach Pistons taking on the Winnipeg Blues and the Winkler Flyers taking on the Virden Oil Capitals.

The Blues will be in tough against the Pistons, who finished the season as the #3 ranked Junior "A" club in the country. Steinbach won the season series against Winnipeg with a record of 5-0-1. The Pistons are coming of a sweep of the Swan Valley Stampeders, while the Blues are coming off a hard-fought series with the Portage Terriers. Steinbach is led by Bradley Schoonbaert. Schoonbaert, who is in his third full Junior "A" season, finished with 91 points. He was narrowly edged out for the MJHL scoring title by Dexter Kuczek ,who led the Blues in the regular season with 92 points.

The other series, between Virden and Winkler, will be hard fought. While the Oil Capitals finished the regular season in second place with a record of 40-17-3, Winkler is coming off a surprise upset of the OCN Blizzard, and has better defensive numbers. Virden won the regular season series 4-2. Mitch Dyck currently leads the MJHL, and the Flyers, in playoff points with 12 (1G, 11A). Ben Dalke currently leads the Oil Capitals with 5G and 1A in five playoff games, following a 39-point regular season.

Game one between Steinbach and Winnipeg will be played tonight at the T.G. Smith Centre in Steinbach, while the Oil Capitals and Flyers will play at Tundra Oil & Gas Place in Virden. Both games will start at 7:30pm CEN. If you can't make it to the games in person, you can watch the live stream on Hockey TV. 

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